| Dorena, Oregon | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Oregon#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Dorena |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Oregon |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Lane |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2000 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Pacific (PST) |
| Utc Offset: | -8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
| Elevation Ft: | 922 |
| Coordinates: | 43.7197°N -122.8619°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 97434 |
| Area Code: | 458 and 541 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1141192 |
Dorena is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located southeast of Cottage Grove on the Row River, a tributary of the Coast Fork Willamette River.
The first settlers arrived in the Dorena area in the 1850s and depended on agriculture to survive, but later logging and gold mining became the mainstays of the local economy.[1] Dorena was named by combining the first names of Dora Burnette and Lorena Martin.[2] Dorena school was built in 1896,[3] and Dorena post office was established in 1899.[4] In 1946, the town was abandoned when the Corps of Engineers began construction of Dorena Dam on the Row River for flood control.[2] [3] The Corps relocated approximately one hundred homes from the town's former site at 43.7756°N -122.9272°W.[5] The dam was completed in 1949 and created Dorena Reservoir, which flooded the townsite.[2] The community was moved five miles upriver.[2]
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Dorena has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[6]
The Row River Trail, a rails to trails conversion of a former Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway line, passes through Dorena.[7]